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A43
sports
Monday, January 5, 2015 www.guardian.co.tt Guardian
At the gala event to recognise the
sterling performance of the national
women footballers on December 3rd
2014, Minister of Sport Dr Rupert Grif-
fith announced the establishment of
"... a special unit in the Ministry of
Sport dealing with sport development
and administration with special empha-
sis on women and girls" (Guardian 4th
December). To bring this idea to fruition
he indicated "I have put a team together,
they will touch base with the various
key stakeholders and then we will come
up with a plan."
As there is no information about the
unit on the Ministry s website, it is hoped
that its composition will not only include
sporting administrators and officials but
also persons from academia such as the
Institute of Gender and Development
Studies (IGSD). A cursory glance of any
sporting academic conference pro-
gramme will show the issue of women
and sports is well ventilated.
It is critical that the unit in its delib-
eration are reminded of the 10 prin-
ciples of the Brighton Declaration
on Women in Sports to which
Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory.
The first principle deals with the
issue of Equity and Equality in Soci-
ety and Sport. It states that every
woman should have equal oppor-
tunity to participate in sport regard-
less of race, colour, language, reli-
gion, creed, sexual orientation, age,
marital status, disability, political
belief or affiliation, national or social
origin.
Of all the factors highlighted in
this principle the one that stands
out for attention is that which relates
to sexual orientation. Any policy
that comes out of the unit s delib-
eration have to deal frankly with
the issue of sexual orientation and
this must be linked to the gender
policy and the country s position
on equal opportunity as indicated
in the words of the national anthem.
Resources, power and responsi-
bility should be allocated fairly and
without discrimination on the basis
of sex. Allocations must be used to
correct any imbalances of benefits
between men and women. The
committee needs to assess whether
or not women s sport are fairly treat-
ed in terms of allocation of resources
especially when it comes from the
state.
Title IX which came in effect in
1972 in the US "prohibits discrim-
ination on the basis of sex in edu-
cation programs and activities that
receive federal financial assistance
including athletics and sports,"
(Feminist Majority Foundation,
2014). Title IX can provide a frame-
work for crafting policy as it relates
to state funds being disbursed to
women
and
men
athletes/teams/sporting disciplines.
The second principle addresses
the issue of accessibility to sporting
facilities. Additionally, it also rec-
ommends that the planning, design
and management of these facilities
must meet the particular needs of
women such as child care provision
and safety.
Research (Coakley 1992 et al) has
indicated that girls and boys
approach sport differently. There-
fore, those who are responsible for
organising and implementing sports
and recreation must take into
account differences in values, atti-
tudes and aspirations of goals. The
unit should engage in both quan-
titative and qualitative assessment
of girls approachs to sports and
physical activities. Such a study will
also provide the unit with infor-
mation that can be used to increase
female participation in sports.
The principle on High Perform-
ance Sport has been supported by
various governments. Athletes such
as Cleopatra Borel and Michelle-
Lee Ahye have been the recipient
of elite athlete funding and support.
It is important for the committee
to ensure that other female athletes
are encouraged to excel so as to reap
the benefits.
The principle of leadership is very
important. According to the dec-
laration "Women are under-repre-
sented in the leadership and decision
making of all sport and sport-related
organisation." Even if it may argued
that women are in charge of various
sporting organisations, the question
has to be asked as to what degree
of power and clout they are able to
exercise especially if they are not
from the dominant traditional sports
such as cricket, football, and ath-
letics.
The declaration recommends that
every effort should be made to
encourage the "number of women
coaches, advisers, decision makers,
officials, administrators and sport
personnel at all levels." Part of the
unit s assessment should be a reg-
ister of all female administrators,
and officials across all level of sports.
It is only through research can
informed policies be developed for
implementation. A hunch or a
dream should not be good enough
to make important pronouncements
about sports as for any other deci-
sion in society.
The research information should
also be made public which can go
a long way with all the other pro-
grammes toward developing a more
gender neutral culture as it relates
to women and men in sports.
The Minister of Sport must be
complimented for his position to
create a level playing field for women
in sports in T&T. However, the true
test of his position will be borne
out by the work of the unit that he
has established, the policies devel-
oped and the success/failures of
their implementation and moni-
toring.
Recognising the Brighton
Declaration on Women and Sport
ANAND RAMPERSAD
pastiche6@gmail.com
SPORTIFICATION
T&T senior women warriors were outstanding during the 2014 Concacaf
season.